Movenpick Hotel Bur Dubai - Dubai, United Arab Emirates 

Was a bit unsure after the reviews, but the price made me decide. Was pleasantly surprised and really liked the hotel, decor, people etc. Only problem was that we had to wait an hour for a room, even though we reached at 3:30pm. The hotel did give us a free drink and all but that was the only hitch. Otherwise, the included buffet breakfast, the staff and service, the cleanliness and attention to detail was excellent. Would definitely stay here again, knowing that this is in a great location (walking distance from Lamcy and Wafi Mall... though no one walks!) and easy to get onto Shaikh Zayed road to get to Mall of Emirates (30 min), Ibn-e-Battuta Mall (40 min); Shaikh Rashid to get to Burjuman Mall (5 min), Mercato (10 min) or Diera Dubai to get to City Center (7 min) or Festival City (15 min) etc. Took some finding the location as we had rented a car, but once we got it it was easy (trick is to keep watching the signs for exit 56, I think). Free valet parking was a bonus and there was never a rush here (as opposed to the crazy Sofitel City Center). You could tell the Swiss tradition, and the lobby, hotel etc. was beautiful and looked new. The pool and gym were very nice as well. All in all, don't think of it whether its a 5 star or not. Think of it as a great hotel lacking nothing (except over-the-top luxury) in a great location, making it very easy to get anywhere without any hassle, and above all, clean, neat and very liveable!

My partner, ten year old daughter and I were guests of this hotel in August of last year. Apart from one major stuff up with our stay (will get to that in a moment) we had a fantastic time for the 5-6 days that we were in town. Ok the hotel is maybe not as sumptuous as some of the other truly decadent places that this country has to offer but then again the price we were charged for our visit reflected this fact and considering what we received this hotel represented very good value for money. (Keep it in mind that we didn't have the good fortune to experience other than a standard room type and that we have no experience with the 'executive' style room which we suspect is a whole level of luxury above what we sampled). The place is worthy of its current star rating with the rooms and all amenities being spotlessly clean and fairly opulent. ( I am a clean freak so this is high praise from me) We had beautiful orchids placed on our pillows every night and chocolate left on the nightstand (who wouldn't love that!). Complementary bottles of water were left each time the room was made up and we were offered a choice as to what type of pillow and bedding we would like to receive. Beautiful orchid displays were also dotted about the rest of the premises. However, the best part about this hotel was its fabulous staff. From the minute we were collected from the airport (jetlagged and heat dazed at 2am after a 22 hour journey) we were delivered into good hands. With the exception of 3 people (amazingly those fronting the check in desk and guest services) we found every single staff member to be delightfully courteous, friendly, warm and helpful. We were greeted by every staff member who passed us with a smile and a wish that we have a nice day. Never at any time did these courtesies appear fawning or insincere. The Concierge and his team were fabulous and went to great lengths to ensure that our requests for information, bookings etc were quickly and effortlessly fulfilled. Need a taxi - no problem a smiling doorman will happily hail one for you and bid that you wait inside in the cool of the foyer until it arrives. You'll see the same smiling face and receive a pleasant welcome back when he opens the taxi door upon your return. Staff will fall over themselves to offer to carry any of your packages to your room. The staff attending the downstairs restaurant that hosted the breakfast and dinner buffets were our favourites with one particularly gracious and friendly young Burmese lady becoming the clear winner in our eyes as best employee on the premises. She charmed our daughter and delivered excellent customer service. She was such a good ambassador for this brand that following one of our evening meals I immediately requested a visit from the manager to let him know just what a valuable asset she was to this hotel. If I were launching an amazing luxury hotel to rival the Burj Al Arab I wouldn't hesitate to attempt to poach all the Moevenpick staff. I don't think that I can give higher praise to this group of people. As another reviewer mentioned the hotel would have been perfectly comfortable to stay in as a female travelling alone. Although we did see other children of all ages during our stay this hotel is not truly a family hotel (no child play facilities etc) and would probably best be described as a business/corporate or couples leisure travel focussed establishment. Children are welcomed however, just not overly catered to with hotel features. In short it is a great place to retire to eat and sleep but you will want to leave to find entertainment regardless of what class of traveller you are. A free minibus service runs on return trips from the hotel to some popular tourist spots as well as airport transfers. We also, agree with other reviewers regarding the roof top pool in the sense that it was surprisingly basic for a hotel of this star rating. This facility was however, perfectly adequate for our needs and was supervised by a lifeguard and partly shaded with a sail for hot times of the day. A nice looking little bar / snack bar with a few tables and chairs was setup adjacent to the pool. The only area that we were let down during our stay concerned the babysitting arrangements that we contracted for whereby our child was inexplicably left without a sitter for a period of nearly two hours as the guest services counter girl who was supposed to personally provide her care apparently decided on a whim not to bother to turn up for this job (despite my having filled in a detailed written contract and personally discussing the matter with her the day before). I was late for an appointment and I left before the sitter turned up (the sitter was already 20mins late at this stage and leaving my child was the suggestion of the blonde guest services girl) and before I left I clearly informed the blonde guest services desk girl that her collegue had not turned up to care for my child at the appointed time and that I wanted her to call my child in her room in ten minutes from my time of departure to ensure that her babysitter had arrived I instructed her to call me immediately if there was any problem or further caregiver delay and I would return. (all of these details and eventualities had been discussed and agreed to the previous day and I was assured that they posed no problem) Nor did my child's sitter bother when she decided not to turn up to work to inform anyone else that a young child was awaiting her arrival in her room. My child was reduced to hysterics by her non arrival and had to phone downstairs to chase up another caregiver. The blonde guest services girl took the call but hung up on my child before explaining what she was going to do about the problem nor did she upon hearing my child's distress get off her backside and go immediately to my child to check on her welfare. The girl who was supposed to do the job had phoned in sick but lo and behold upon our return in the early afternoon she was viewed by myself in the lobby miraculously restored to good health and vitality escorting a group of businessmen around the facility. At no time did the other blonde guest services desk girl phone us to inform us that a problem had occurred or to let us know that our daughter had been upset to such a magnitude. Nor did she inform me of these facts when I stopped to talk to her upon arrival back at the hotel. I heard it from my daughter and when I had contained my anger and outrage sufficiently to go back downstairs to confront her with her and her collegues negligence she was extremely dismissive and unapologetic and could not even begin to explain the fact that her collegue was standing right across the foyer in radiant good health after I pointed out that she had informed me moments earlier that she was sick. These two girls were negligent in the extreme and exposed the hotel to massive liability with their irresponsible approach to caring for a minor person under a written babysitting contract. They should have been sacked but to my knowledge no action was taken against them by managment despite my partner bringing this inexcusable incident to their attention. (I could not be trusted to be polite when so furious). The blonde desk services girl did offer the babysitting charge be waived but we refused this and paid the substitute caregiver (who was not at fault in any respect and who did a reasonable job) since we were concerned that her work would not otherwise be compensated. Yet despite such a poor experience with these two (and a somewhat snobby young western male front desk operator) we found the rest of staff to be the factor that made our stay otherwise excellent in every respect. We would consider staying here again but we do recommend to other travellers to consider what attractions they wish to visit when choosing their accommodation since this hotel may not appear to be an obvious choice at first owing to its location. Do keep in mind that taxis are very inexpensive.